Spirit
by clover bookcat
Summary: Time and fate are mysterious things, both unclear, yet heavily intertwined. PMD, Explorers of the Sky. AbsolxVulpixRiolu. Warning: Will vary from main game script.


**A/N: This entire story has been stuck in my head ever since I discovered the wonderful world of fanfiction and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. I wanted to write something like this, but I could never seem to put the pencil to the paper (or in this case, the fingers to the keyboard), but now I finally have. But just in case you didn't see the summary underneath the link to this story for some reason: THERE IS A THREEWAY. Not only this, it's AbsolxVulpixRiolu. Also, it's been a while since I played the game all the way through, so I'm going to write all of this based on memory. Which means it WILL vary from the script. A lot. Still want to continue? Be my welcome guest, dear reader.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. That's probably for the better safety of the world, too.**

The world was silent. There was no sound, no movement. The sky was dark, a mixture of grays and blues that somehow managed to cast light onto the floating rocks below. The wind did not blow.

In a rocky clearing hundreds of feet below the dark gray sky, three shadowy figures crept along next to the trees.

Their target would have been clear to anyone watching – the wide stone arch in the middle of the clearing. As they approached, the tallest figure stopped, seeming to look back over his shoulder before launching out across the clearing. The light was barely enough to see, but he looked like a green lizard, only with a long leaf attached to the back of his head and arms. Once he had sprinted out to the front of the arch, he turned around and gestured to the other two shadows beneath the tree line.

The smaller figure crept forward, keeping its eyes trained on the sky. The pale light sparkled on its ethereal skin, and it looked almost like a rose-colored spirit. Quickly zipping forward, the creature darted up next to its companion near the arch.

"I don't like this," the creature said, glancing upwards again nervously, "It seems too…quiet, for some reason."

Its green companion followed its gaze at the sky, then looked down at the arch. "You worry too much. This world has no sound, it's normal. You should be used to it."

She shook her head. "Not like this. It's like…it's almost like the silence is pressing in on us. I don't trust it." She looked again at her companion. "And you don't either, I would think."

Her companion was quiet for a moment, then let out what might have been a low chuckle. "You know me too well."

"You've got that right."

The green lizard just shook his head. "Whatever." He looked back at the arch, then at the lone figure near the tree line. "What is she doing? We should already be gone. This shouldn't be taking so long."

The pixie's wings hummed through the air – a sign of anxiety. "She said she was coming right after me."

The serpent let out a low hiss. "That idio-"

The last figure burst out of the trees, running at full speed. Because of the darkness, its form was hard to see, but it was clear that speed was not its strong point. Halfway to the arch, it started to slow down, while behind it even more shadowy figures were spilling out from the trees.

The pink fairy let out a sharp gasp. "A trap!"

A sharp cry filled the air as the lone figure crossing the clearing fell over, seemingly hit by an unknown projectile. A shout rose up from the ranks of the shadows as they saw that one of their targets had been brought down.

Without hesitation, the lizard leapt forward, taking enormous strides, the leaves attached to his arms extending with a green glow. Snarling, he leapt onto the nearest shadow, hacking and slashing at the large figure. With a roar, his target threw the green creature off his back, slamming him into a tree. There was a loud crack as a frozen branch snapped in two. He sank to the ground, unmoving.

With a shriek of anger, the pixie flew at the creatures, bypassing the small figure that was trying to get up from the ground, and letting out a high pitched cry. A tinkling sound, akin to bells, filled the air, and then everything stopped moving. If it had not been for the scattered creatures all over the clearing, it would have seemed like the world was the same as it had been before.

Wasting no time, the pokemon sped over next to the lizard, taking his arm and half-carrying, half-dragging him across the ground as best it could, following their companion who had already made it to safety. Half-way across, the lizard seemed to regain consciousness, getting back to his own two feet and crossing the clearing with the help of the fairy. Taking slow, steady steps, the two approached the figure shivering, alone, under the shadow of the arch.

"We've got to go," the lizard muttered, "If they didn't know what we were doing before, they definitely do now. How long can you hold?" He asked, turning to his companion.

"Not much longer," the pixie said, and it's voice sounded slightly strained, "Restricting time isn't something I'm used to doing. I think Prima is involved as well. It's making it harder for me."

"Then we can't waste any time. Can you still open the portal while doing it?"

"Yes…I think so. Once I do, I won't be able to keep everything still for a second longer, though. It'll take everything I've got to teleport away from here, not to mention keep the entrance open."

"That'll be enough." The lizard eyed the fairy with seemingly unchanging features, but his voice was hoarse. "Take care of yourself."

"That goes double for you," the fairy said, managing a smile, "_both_ of you. I want this to be over, soon."

"We'll do it." They had reached the portal, and the figure, as well. With a sigh, the fairy set down her friend, smiled at the creature hidden in the shadow of the arch, then held up it's arms. Immediately, the tinkling returned, and then the clearing exploded into action as the space between the two branches of the arch began to glow with an iridescent light. With a burst of more bells, the fairy disappeared.

"Go!" Yelled the lizard, for the shadows in the trees were stumbling, tripping over one another in an attempt to get closer. "Go! I'll hold them up, just get through!"

The figure paused at the mouth of the portal, seeming to look over it's shoulder at the glaring creature behind. Then, without a sound, it jumped into the portal, shimmering through the air and fading away as they passed through the dimension. There was a cry near the forest – the shadows had seen the light, and were racing towards the arch. The green lizard dove to the ground, seemingly disappearing for a moment before reappearing in a burst of smoke.

Pausing only to spit on the ground at his pursuers, the lizard jumped through the portal after his companion. He wore a satisfied smile on his face as he jumped through, the yells and shouts of surprised enemies falling through a sudden pitfall reaching his ears.

Then the shifting lights shimmered, and were gone.

On the outskirts of Treasure Town, a sigh came from the small creature sitting on the beach. It appeared to be something like a miniature blue dog, though his fur was colored black round his red eyes, ears, and torso, giving him the appearance of a masked thief. His arms were crossed as he sat Indian-style on the sand, staring out at the sunlight spreading out over the sea. He did not turn around at the sound of approaching footsteps behind him, instead calling out, "What took you so long?"

The being that came up behind him was nearly completely white, with the exception of the enormous, crescent shaped scythe attached to his forehead. His eyes, like the blue furred creature's, were ruby red.

"I was just at the hideout. The entrance is sealed now, although I still think that covering it with leaves wasn't your smartest idea…"

The blue dog scowled. "Shut up. We were crammed for time, and you know it."

His companion shrugged. "If we get robbed, I'm still blaming you." When there was no reply, he padded forward and sat down beside him. "So, what next?"

Another sigh. "Dunno. I came down here hoping I'd get an idea, but so far, nothing." He scratched his paw in the sand, stared at his handiwork for a few seconds, then scraped over it again in frustration. "We can't leave, and we can't stay. If only we hadn't made that stupid oath…"

"Or if you would just let me stand on top of that mat. Come on, Fai, you know that I can handle those sorts of things better than you do-"

Fai scowled again. "No. You know what we promised. The one who speaks to the Guild Master _has_ to be me, or else this whole thing isn't legit. Just because you're from a Dark Type Clan doesn't mean that I can't handle Psychic Types perfectly fine on my own, Leon."

Leon rolled his eyes. "As I'm sure you can." After a moment, he turned his gaze back to the ocean. The setting sun reflected many hues of pink, orange, and red on its surface. On the rocky outcroppings that made up the cove, hundreds of Krabby began to crawl out of their homes, bubbles floating from their mouths as they went. The colors of the sky refracted in the bubbles, creating a rainbow of circular mirages. "…Whenever I come here, I always feel calmer."

Fai nodded, not looking away from the scene. "I was so sure that we could do it today…I even brought it with me."

Leon raised an eyebrow at this, turning his gaze to Fai. "You did? I didn't see it."

In answer, Fai held out his paw and placed an object on the ground. To the normal eye, it would have looked like any other common pebble, its colors camouflaging it with the grains in the sand. On its surface, however, an intricate, faded pattern was inscribed. Fai's eyes seemed to light up as he saw it. Leon shook his head, but he too looked upon the rock fondly.

"I've never understood where you find space to keep that thing."

His friend grinned. "And you never will. But anyway…" His shoulders seemed to droop a bit as he took the stone back, "it didn't really do much good. We still haven't joined the guild, and I still can't stand on that stupid mat." He shuddered. "That voice always freaks me out."

"Well, we'll just be stuck here for the rest of our lives, then."

"Why's that?"

"You and I both know we can't go back without getting exiled from the clan, but I also happen to know that you'll never want to go anywhere until you finish what we came here for."

Fai laughed. "And I know that you'll never leave me alone, as much as I'd like you to."

"That's because you'd never last a day without my help."

"Oh, I think I could."

"No way." Leon said, and placed his head on his paws as he lay down on the sand. He opened his mouth and yawned, his expression bored. "Besides, we've been through this before. Let's just focus on how we're going to sign up to the guild."

Fai jumped to his feet, saying, "Let's _not_."

"Fai-"

The little dog ignored him, continuing as though he hadn't been interrupted. "We don't need to sign up to a guild! We can build our own! And you and I, we could both be guild masters! We could be renown, just like the Igglytuff!"

Leon opened his mouth, as though to butt in once more, but closed it, adjusting himself in the sand to make himself more comfortable instead. "Suit yourself."

"Yeah!" Fai exclaimed, though it was unclear whether his response was towards Leon or in emphasis of his earlier exclamation. "Nothing's gonna bring me down! Yeaaaah!" He barged away, running down the coast with his blue tail bouncing behind him and yelling at the top of his lungs.

Leon stayed where he was, continuing to gaze out at the ocean. He knew that when Fai was stressed, he started to ramble. And when he started to ramble, it was best to let him barge on his way until he tired himself out. So he was not at all worried as he heard Fai's continued rampage fade slightly as he ran down the beach. What _did_ worry him was when he heard a sharp "Ow!" followed by silence. Getting to his feet and wondering exactly what mess his partner had gotten himself into now, he bounded away.

He found Fai lying on the ground and rubbing a minor bump on his head. On the ground in front of him, completely still, was a ball of brown fur.

At least, it_ looked_ like a ball of brown fur.

"What did you do?" Leon demanded, skidding to a halt next to Fai.

"Nothing, I swear! I tripped over this thing, it's not my fault…" He turned to the ball, prodding it with one paw. "Hey, wake up!" Leon, after a moment's hesitation, also moved forward and gave the damp fur a nudge with his nose.

The ball of brown fur stirred. Then, it lifted a head out from its masses, revealing amber eyes and a crown of curly red fur. Similar patterns of red fur were found in the shape of a tail as she spread out and stretched. The two amber eyes blinked blearily.

"A Vulpix…no way," Leon murmured. "I've never heard of one of their clans coming here before."

"Oh, good! I hoped you weren't dead," Fai said enthusiastically, ignoring him. Leon simply rolled his eyes in response to his friend's exclamation. The two amber pools blinked again.

"Where…where am I?"

"You don't know?" Fai asked, incredulous. "You're lying here, unconscious on a beach and soaked in water, and you don't even know where you are?"

"Well, I did kind of just wake up," the fox-like creature snapped, "so if you could please excuse my brain lag I think that-"

"Ignore him," Leon cut in, "he just has this ability to get on a Pokemon's nerves, sometimes." Fai shot him a look. "You're on the beach right outside of Treasure Town."

More blinking. Then, "Treasure Town? What kind of idiot came up with a name like that?"

Leon shrugged. "Apparently someone lacking in originality."

Fai snorted. "Please. Why would anyone want to spend half their life coming up with the right name for a town? It's not like its important or anything."

"It is to me," said the Vulpix angrily, getting to her feet, "and I've never heard of such a name."

"You haven't?" Leon asked, surprised. "But how did you get here? You'd have to have seen the sign at the cross roads up north."

The Vulpix opened her mouth, paused, and closed it again, looking surprised. "I...I don't remember. Wait…" she squinted at them, but then widened her eyes. "You're…you're both Pokemon! But…What? What's going on? Pokemon shouldn't be talking! Am I going insane?"

Fai looked incredulous; Leon looked bemused. "Why's that so surprising?" Fai demanded. "Pokemon are _supposed_ to talk. You're one yourself, aren't you?"

"What are you talking about? I'm a human!"

Leon eyed her curiously. "You don't look like a human. In every sense that I've heard about them, you look like a fully-fledged Vulpix."

"She's crazy. She's gotta be."

"I'm not! You have to believe me!"

Fai spun around to face Leon. "Do you believe this?"

Leon continued to look at the Vulpix with the eye of someone who was judging whether or not the berry they had was still edible. Finally, he said, "I think she's telling the truth."

Fai, startled, looked from Leon to the Vulpix and back again. At last, with the air of grudgingly admitting through his teeth, he asked, "So you're really a human?"

"That's what I've been telling you, and I don't see why I'd change my mind now," she huffed.

"Okay, okay," Fai said hastily, holding up his paws. After a moment, he asked, "Well…what's your name? We can't really address you as just 'human' or anything…"

"My name…" The Vulpix closed her eyes, her face scrunching up in an obvious effort to drag forth something from the back of her mind. "My name…was Kaine. I think."

"Kaine, huh? Well, sorry for tripping over you on the beach. My name's-"

And suddenly, out of nowhere, a large, purple ball smashed into the blue dog, knocking the rock that he had been holding into the air. Leon sprang to his feet to try to help, but what looked like a small bat, also seeming to appear out of thing air, put the corner of his sharp wing to his neck and forced him to the ground. Kaine stared, too shocked to react.

"So, busy taking our time, are we?" The bat hissed, "I tell ya, I was goin' nuts back there, waiting for you three to shut yer yap. Weren't we, Poff?"

"You bet we were, Tiz! You bet!" The purple ball, still sitting on top of Fai, boomed accordingly. Fai struggled beneath him, but he couldn't get into a good enough position for his legs or paws to reach. "And we was waitin' for a long time, wasn't we? I was gettin' bored, havin' ta wait behind those rocks that whole time."

"Yeah, well, we'll get what we came for." With that, the bat named Tiz leapt off of Leon, followed by the purple ball from his perch on Fai. Before either could react, the bat sprang for the rock on the ground, picking it up in his large mouth. "An' we'll be takin' fis wit us," he said around a mouthful of gravel.

"How much do ya think it'll get, Tiz? It's gotta be somethin' important, the way those two were treatin' it, an' important stuff's always worth lots of Poke." Poff said eagerly. "I'll betcha the boss'll be really pleased, if we bring him lots of Poke."

"Give that back!" Fai yelled, springing to his feet. Leon was also back up, glaring at the two menacingly.

"Nah uh uh," the bat said tauntingly, hovering the rock dangerously over the ground, "If you aren't careful, we'll break this rock. We won't know how much it'll cost until we get it checked, after all." This, combined with the dangerous looking smoke that the ball had begun emitting, made the two other Pokemon back off, hatred in their eyes.

"It's important to us. Give it back, and we won't have to hurt you," Leon said, and the scythe on his forehead seemed to extend menacingly close to the ground.

"What, three Pokemon on two? That's not fair," The bat whined, which sounded extremely strange when his voice was coming around an object that filled his mouth, "an' you can't trust those Vulpix tykes. They're tricksters, they are," he added to the ball, catching sight of Kaine, who was still lying on the sand, openmouthed.

"Don't worry about 'em, Tiz. Remember? They couldn't even go into the guild, they were so scared. There's no way they'll be able to fight us!" Poff cried.

Fai's eyes seemed to widen at this piece of information. "You _followed_ us?"

"We've been int'rested in this here rock of yers for a while now," Tiz said, smirking, "an' how else were we supposed to have a shot at it if we didn't follow ya?"

"That's it," Leon muttered, and his scythe glowed dangerously.

"You'll hafta catch us first!" Poff chortled, and he and the bat sped off through the air toward the edge of the beach, yelling back, "Just roll around in the sand with yer lil' friend, morons!"

"No way are we letting them get away with that. Come on!" Fai yelled, beginning to give chase.

"Hold on," Kaine said, finally seeming to have found her voice since the two newcomers had intruded, "Shouldn't you go get someone else to help? I mean," she added as the two figures disappeared into the mouth of a small crevice in the rock, "they looked strong. I don't think you could take them on, and just now-"

"We got caught by surprise, that's all." Leon said calmly, trotting off after Fai. "If it had been a fair match, there's no way they'd have beaten either of us."

"Besides, we don't have time to run all the way to Town! Even if we asked the Guild for help, those two might already be gone! Who knows what would happen to our stone then?" Fai shouted over his shoulder, already half-way down the beach, "Sorry, Kaine, we've gotta go! Hope we see each other again! Bye!"

"But-"

Too late. Both creatures had already run into the crevice after the bat and the purple floating ball. Sinking back onto the sand, Kaine stared at the sea and let out a low growl, rubbing her two new front paws on each side of her head. Okay. Deep breaths, she told herself.

Her name was Kaine. That much she knew. That, and that she'd once been a human who…who…who what? She wondered. Well, she'd have to make due with her limited amount of knowledge about herself. That was a problem she could deal with.

According to those two – no, make that four – idiots who'd she'd just run into, she now bore the appearance of a…Vulpix.

"What a weird name," Kaine muttered. Was that the name for her species? It made sense, she supposed. She hadn't asked for the names of those other two, either, but it wasn't like they'd wanted to stay and talk, anyway.

As she stared out at the now purple and pink tinted bubbles in the sky, however, Kaine realized that was not her biggest problem. This new, strange world of Pokemon that she had been thrust into was, it seemed, filled with extremely basic concepts that Kaine had proven she did not understand. How was she to survive in this world, then? She had no understanding of where she was, she barely understood _who_ she was, and she didn't know anyone else…

Oh. That wasn't true.

"Oh no," Kaine said aloud, "no, no, _no_. I'm not going to go crawling after those morons." She dug her claws into the sand for emphasis.

For a moment, there was only the sound of the waves as the tide pulled back and forth, and the sound of soft bubbling from the mouths of the remaining Krabby on the sides of the cove and beach, their numbers having thinned for nightfall. Then, looking up at the sky and swearing loudly, Kaine jumped to her feet, startling most of the remaining Krabby back into their homes. With a bound and a leap, she followed the sandy prints leading up to the cove wall. The six curls of her enormous tail whipped around a corner, and she was gone.

Up on a ledge sticking out on the cove, one Krabby remained. As the tide came back in and the oval prints began to fade away, it marveled silently to itself that such small and few Pokemon could possibly make so much noise.

**A/N: And thus, it begins. This chapter was a lot of fun to write, and thus, very easy to write (although it took me nearly three months before I convinced myself to actually write it. That, and I took forever to focus on writing long enough to actually get anything written down). We're now introduced to our three main characters, and **_**wow**_**, did they undergo major character editing while I was working on this. I originally wanted to write them as innocents, the typical RPG hero characters, but it just didn't click for some reason. So that's how their current personalities came into being. I can't wait until I get to the canon characters. Just you wait. –evil smirk- As a sidenote, this is also my first time writing fanfiction in third/second person POV whereas I normally write in first person. I figured this would be good practice for my overall writing style…hopefully.**

**Constructive critism and comments? Yeah, I'd love it if you sent them. Thanks. I hope you enjoyed it!**


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